(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention provides a buoyancy capsule sized to contain a weapon for launching. A telescoping nose section of the launch capsule, normally unextended around the weapon, extends at launch along a longitudinal axis of the capsule to provide the buoyancy used to lift the capsule out of a stored state and to ascent the capsule towards the surface. Once the surface is reached, a nose cone of the capsule is jettisoned to allow the weapon to exit the capsule.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Presently, no weapons/vehicles presently used by the Navy are designed for continuous seawater emersion. Therefore, all existing weapon/vehicles require a protective capsule, especially in the case of aerial missiles and vehicles.
Existing capsules are large in size because the capsules integrate the required buoyancy directly into the large size of the capsule, such that the volume of the capsule is usually much larger than the weapon/vehicle it contains. The larger size is needed to provide the buoyancy force that is necessary to lift the weapon/vehicle out of the payload bay and to carry the weapon/vehicle to the surface.
Protective capsules must also be capable of withstanding the launch depth pressure. However, based on a given capsule wall thickness, a smaller capsule can withstand greater depth pressures than a large one. Therefore, by minimizing the size of the protective capsule, launch depth capability can be improved.
In the Lynch reference (U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,222), a launch system is disclosed. The system is a float-up launching system for launching missiles from submerged submarines utilizing a lightweight rigid cylindrical tube 18 telescoped over the missile 14 (FIGS. 1 and 2) while stored in the launcher so as to not take up additional volume. At launch, the tube 18 is extended forward of the missile 14 by a gas generator 32 to form a floatation chamber 12 (FIGS. 3 and 4) which creates extra buoyancy forward of the missile's center of gravity. At the surface of the water, the floatation chamber 12 is disconnected (FIG. 5) and the missile booster is ignited.
In the Vass reference (U.S. Pat. No. 4,003,291), a launch apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus launches a plurality of underwater rocket missiles utilizing inflatable bags 30 and a gas bottle 34.
In the Brown reference (U.S. Pat. No. 3,137,203), a launch system is disclosed. The missile launching system operates where a capsule 13 containing the missile 14 is ejected from a vertical tube 11 of a missile launching submarine. As the capsule 13 leaves the tube 11, a tube 17 is inflated from a supply of air under pressure from accumulators 18.
An improvement to existing launching technology would be to provide a capsule that is not significantly larger that the size of the contents of the capsule yet can provide the necessary buoyancy to launch the contents (such as weapons and vehicles). The capsule would telescope a portion of the capsule that completely surrounds the weapon with the portion able to increase the buoyancy of the capsule with the minimal use of gas generation at launch. A launch capsule that minimizes gas generation and use stowage space would be a significant improvement over existing launch capsules.